A Librarian

We have a winner! I was waiting to make a final decision until my partner and I had a chance to visit the various cities. We liked Philadelphia the best...and so now we'll be moving there. Very excited!

Trying to make a decision. My partner and I are now visiting some of the cities so we can make the final pick, but at this point I think I know which direction I'm leaning in...I think.

Greetings to one and all! Congratulations to everybody on all of the acceptances and decisions on this board! Huzzah! (sorry I've been MIA of late)

I agree with @Neist on this one - no news could actually be good news. If you haven't heard anything by Monday you're probably in the clear to e-mail them. I think that my, above, comment to @ladyobscure holds true for you as well - it might mean you're on the waitlist. As for Penn's HSS I'm pretty sure that the admissions offers have gone out, but if you still haven't heard anything yet you could probably contact them as well. I have no idea about the University of Washington though.

Congratulations @ladyobscure and @Logik! I think that this means that they are toying with us.

I'm pretty sure that the acceptances and wait list offers are out for NYU (assuming you're talking about MCC). @cikkatikkaskwarr and @TWD2016 it sounds like you both got into Michigan! Congratulations! I hope to meet you in person during the welcome weekend!

At the end of the day I think that "the right school" is the one you decide to go to. I know that sounds cheesy (note: it is in fact cheesy) - but sometimes what starts as a dream quickly turns into a nightmare, or it just becomes really weird and stops making sense altogether (and now I have talked about dreams [also cheesy]). It's easy to conclude that a school would be a perfect fit for you, but I think we all probably know people who went to the "perfect fit school" and wound up having a less than stellar time. I think that everybody on this board seems really committed to doing serious STS work, and I think we'll all be able to do it wherever we wind up! I'm looking forward to running into all of you at conferences in the not too distant future!

I kept waiting for one of them to display a message reading "weren't you just here three minutes ago?"

A belated congratulations! I was also accepted to San Diego's PhD program in Communications! It seems like a really excellent program - I'm looking forward to getting out to San Diego to see the school (whenever they finalize the dates for their welcome weekend). Given your interest in "security/surveillance/border studies" are you also looking at the Science Studies program at UCSD? It could be a good fit!

They did - and they are hosting their welcome event next week. The aid package isn't huge (but it also isn't tiny), but I think that it will probably go a decent way seeing as Troy is relatively inexpensive. I also had a conversation with somebody at RPI where I was told that most students who come in having already earned an MA are usually able to finish the program in just four years (which is nice).

Same here. Feeling disappointed, but at this point I was expecting it. Earlier in the year I got a fortune cookie that read "you will be rejected from Cornell" - I should have listened to the cookie! In some ways it's a relief to be done waiting. I've kind of written off the two schools I'm still waiting to hear from (UBC and U of Toronto) - so now I can focus on actually picking a program. Congratulations to everybody on this board for their acceptances!

Amen! I'm afraid that I'm experiencing a definite case of the "how do I keep myself motivated and involved when I have mentally checked out and moved on to the next thing." I know that I need to keep working in my current job until, at least, the end of July - but that now seems like an eternity away. The relocation issue is tough. It would be nice if some schools offered some kind of moving allowance (though I suppose you can probably mark it down as a tax write off). I'm trying to make my decision based around best fit - but the more I think about the hassle and cost of moving the more I find it shading my options. Granted, one of the nice things about working with a move on the horizon is it gives you the opportunity to try and save up some money. I'm going to put myself on a "no book buying" regimen. I intend to start it...eventually...

Maybe I'm also cynical (full disclosure: I am), but I think this is totally correct. I know that when I was first looking at MA programs a number of the people I contacted went out of their way to mention the various PhD programs their graduates get into.

Sometimes I think that professors and departments are actually watching these grad cafe forums and they periodically send out messages like that tweet because they enjoy watching us squirm. I know that sounds like paranoid hogwash...but it doesn't mean I'm wrong...

No idea. Trust me, I wish I knew. I think it has to do with the department wanting to keep the MA as a distinct program, instead of allowing it to be seen as a pipeline directly into the PhD program. By making it so that the PhD program isn't filled with former MA students it kind of creates the expectation among MA students that they'll need to look elsewhere for PhD programs. I think that MCC is a bit of a weird department (I don't mean that in a bad way), it's almost like there are multiple little departments within the department. As a result it seems like each little sub-department gets to pick one student - one for STS type work, one for visual studies, one for media studies, and so forth. Granted, I'm not sure if this makes MCC distinct or not (I really don't know) - I had always been under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that most PhD programs try not to recruit from their own MA pool.

If there's a POI you were in contact with, I think it's acceptable to reach out to them, especially if your communication was more than just a cursory "hi, my name is" type message. If you think there's a chance you might wind up reapplying to the program, I think it doesn't hurt to contact them.

Correct, I am currently finishing up the MA program at MCC. As for the turnover rate from MA to PhD - based on past cohorts - I'd say that usually there is one former MCC MA student in a group of PhD students. I can think of several current cohorts where there are zero former MA students, but I don't know if I can think of any where there's more than one. That being said, I think that MCC is a program where there's often a bit of movement from the wait list into the admitted cohort - in past years usually 2 or 3 people from the wait list eventually wind up getting accepted.

Sorry to be a downer, but I'm pretty sure that MCC's decisions have been sent out. They did the interviews on 2/11. I got a waitlist e-mail from them on Sunday afternoon - and I think that they've also sent out the rest of the offers. A professor in the department told me that usually some of the people on the waitlist are eventually offered a spot in the program (but I'm not holding my breath).

Thank you to the brave soul who contacted the department. I will now go from checking my e-mail every ten minutes to checking my e-mail every five minutes. Oy.

I've been fascinated by the wide range of programs that people on this board applied to - it seems to me like there haven't been too many programs to which a lot of us applied - with the exception being Cornell. I'd be curious to know who that acceptance on the results page belongs to...lurkers? Anybody? Indeed...There's something about seeing a professor say "what a competition" that makes this whole thing just seem like even more of a game show...

The results board is headache inducing. I wish that schools would just release all of their results at the same time (yes, no, wait list). It would be better than having to assume the worst while quietly hoping that things will still work out. I heard a rumor from somebody at Cornell that the program received 40 applications this year for only 3 spots. Steep odds. So maybe 3 acceptances and 3 wait list spots? Granted, it's hard to know if any of those wait list spots will wind up turning into acceptances at all. I totally agree, it's also a relatively new field (in some respects). A lot of schools are just starting to offer STS programs, and so it's hard to know what the field is really going to look like in even 5 years. There might be many more programs - or at least more schools that are offering affiliated undergraduate minors. But, we'll all have to wait and see.

Congratulations @nevermind on being accepted to UCSD!

Congratulations @Neist on the Bowling Green State acceptance! I don't think any of the folks regularly posting on this forum applied to that program (though it's certainly a good one). Maybe there are some people reading this forum from the shadows who can comment on that program? Anybody? Lurkers? Overall, I'd say that the results boards can be a little bit sparse when it comes to looking for info about STS (and STS style) programs (the entries about Cornell and Penn are sparse as well as rather old). I'll let you know if I hear anything about Chicago, but I'm not sure I know anybody who applied there this cycle. I'd say that being put on the waitlist isn't a bad thing at all. Most STS programs tend not to admit many people (3 or 4) so even being put on the waitlist means you're in the top bunch of applicants! I would guess that you still probably have a decent chance of getting in off the waitlist. I would imagine that you should have an answer from the program before the April 15th deadline. One of the current problems, in terms of waitlists, is that there are several STS programs which still haven't announced their final decisions (Cornell, Penn, UCSD Science Studies, and I'm sure there are others), or have sent out acceptances but haven't sent out fellowship information yet, so it may mean that there are people who have been accepted to GTech HSOC but who are waiting to see if they get in other places. I recognize that isn't the most helpful advice, but it seems to me like the best thing to do is just be patient for a while. If you still haven't heard anything more by the first week of March I'd recommend you contact the department. Good luck! Here's hoping this next week brings good news for everybody!

I hope the coming days and weeks will bring good news to everybody on this forum! @nevermind hopefully the interview at UCSD will result in an offer. I think that if they're interviewing you it's a clear sign that they are seriously considering making an offer to you. I know some people who interviewed at UCSD in past years and the impression they gave me was that the interviews are "just to make sure you're a normal human being." I'm certainly rooting for you! @Neist have you gotten in touch with anybody in the financial aid department at Drexel? I know you're still waiting to hear back from other places, but sometimes (once you're accepted) you can get the home department and the financial aid department to offer you more money. I know that Drexel will still be expensive (I will never escape the mountain of debt I have accrued at NYU) but they might be able to defray the cost a bit. Granted, hopefully you'll get a better offer soon.

Here here! Congratulations @the_queer_ecologist on the MCC admit! Let me know if you have any questions about the department.